State v. Settle, 86 N.E.3d 35

Background

In April 2014 Michael Settle participated in a planned burglary of Lisa Prater’s home with four others; Settle wore a ski mask and carried a gun. During the intrusion Settle shot and killed James Levels and shot Prater twice; Prater survived and called 911.
Co-participants Beau Palmer, Tyler Meardith, and James Stein later pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the State; Diane Boyce (Settle’s later wife) also testified to pre‑marital statements by Settle including an alleged admission and showing her the crime location.
Settle was indicted on aggravated murder, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, having a weapon while under a disability, tampering with evidence, and multiple firearm specifications; trial occurred in September 2015.
The jury acquitted on tampering but convicted Settle on the other five counts and all firearm specs; several counts were merged for sentencing, yielding an aggregate term of 44 years to life.
On appeal Settle raised (1) error in the accomplice‑testimony jury instruction, (2) ineffective assistance for failing to timely object to Boyce’s testimony about an alibi request, and (3) that convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by not using OJI CR 409.17 Alternative 2 verbatim for accomplice testimony	State: Jury was properly instructed, including the statutory R.C. 2923.03(D) language cautioning jury about accomplice credibility	Settle: OJI added an extra emphasis (“use with great caution and view with grave suspicion”) the court omitted, lessening the warning and misleading the jury	Court: No error — the trial court included the statutory R.C. 2923.03(D) language; the omitted OJI repetition was cumulative and not prejudicial; instruction correct as a whole.
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object when Boyce testified that Settle asked her to provide an alibi	State: Boyce was found competent to testify to pre‑marital statements; the record contains a text citing an earlier alibi request	Settle: Counsel should have objected because no foundation was laid to show the request pre‑dated the marriage; without an objection, prejudicial testimony may have been admitted	Court: No ineffective assistance shown — prejudice not established because record does not prove the alleged request occurred post‑marriage.
Whether convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence given accomplices’ inconsistent testimony	State: Accomplice testimony corroborated by Boyce’s statements and physical/contextual evidence; plea agreements and motives were exposed to jury	Settle: Accomplices’ inconsistencies made their accounts incredible and a basis to reverse	Court: No — testimony of accomplices (particularly Meardith and Stein) and Boyce provided substantial credible evidence; jury did not lose its way.

Key Cases Cited

State v. Martens, 90 Ohio App.3d 338 (1993) (OJI are recommended instructions and not mandatory)
State v. Hardy, 28 Ohio St.2d 89 (1971) (jury instructions must be read as a whole; no prejudicial error if charge as a whole correctly states law)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (standard for manifest‑weight review)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (1989) (two‑part test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (manifest‑miscarriage‑of‑justice language used in weight‑of‑the‑evidence analysis)